The New Mexico Election Administration Report: The 2006 November General Election

The New Mexico Election Administration Report on the 2006 November General Election is the product of three independent research projects focused on New Mexico’s election administration efforts in the 2006 election. New Mexico has recently implemented a number of significant election reforms intended to create fair, accurate and voter-verifiable election administration systems. New Mexico, for example, is the first state that moved from a predominantly electronic voting system to one that mandated optical scan paper ballots statewide, with the intent of providing a paper trail so that elections could be audited for accuracy and to provide an environment that would promote greater voter confidence. The statewide implementation of this program and the use of ES&S M-100 and M-650 occurred in the fall 2006 general election. Prior to that there were at least six different voting technologies used throughout the state. Each of the three research studies summarized here examine a different aspect of the election process, each providing a very important look at the election administration question and an overall look at the 2006 election experience and environment in New Mexico.